In a truly Canadian Olympic moment, a coach from the Canadian team came to the rescue of a Russian cross-country skier, who fell and broke his ski during a race. Read the full story and an interview with the coach.

The athlete, Anton Gafarov, crashed early in the race but tried to continue, falling several times. From the sidelines emerged Canadian coach Justin Wadsworth, ski in hand. He quickly swapped Gafarov’s broken ski for a fresh one and the athlete pushed on. He would finish the race in a distant last place, but in front of cheering fans from his home country. Catch the full video on Deadspin.

The Globe’s Allan Maki spoke with the coach after the event. Read the full story here.

“I was on the course with spare skis and poles for Alex [Harvey, a member of the Canadian team that didn’t qualify for the sprint final],” said Wadsworth. “I just went to watch. The Russian fell on the big downhill before the finish area and broke a ski. I was surprised no one else on the course gave him anything.”

“I went over and gave him one of Alex’s spare skis. It was about giving Gafarov some dignity so he didn’t have to walk to the finish area.”

This was not the first time a coach had helped a cross-country skier from another country. At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, Sara Renner and Beckie Scott were racing in the team sprint final when Renner broke a pole.

Watching from the sidelines, Norwegian coach Bjornar Hakensmoen gave Renner a new pole which allowed her not only to finish the race but to win a silver medal with Scott. The Norwegians came in fourth, meaning that Hakensmoen’s heroics may have cost his own team a medal.

Day 16 was Canada’s last chance to collect Olympic hardware — and they delivered. Canada will finish the Games ranked third overall — behind Russia and Norway — with 10 gold medals, 10 silver and 5 bronze, for a total of 25.

The total in Sochi is just one shy of Vancouver’s record performance when Canada collected 26 medals including 14 gold.

Use this interactive tracker to compare Canada’s performance, day by day, against each previous Olympic Games.

Each chart shows the number of medals earned each day, broken down by medal type. This year’s results will be posted throughout the Games as soon as they become available.

Canadians were taken on an emotional roller-coaster during Team Canada’s 3-2 overtime win against the U.S. When Canada was down 2-0 with just four minutes to go, it looked like all was lost. But Canada’s women battled on and pulled off a thrilling comeback that will live in Canadian sports history (and fans’ memories) for years.

Alex Bilodeau wins gold in moguls, again

CTV screencap, Dylan Martinez/Reuters. Composite by The Globe and Mail

When Alexandre Bilodeau earned his second consecutive gold medal in men’s moguls and celebrated at the bottom of the hill with his brother Frédéric, Canadians were brought back to a similar moment the two shared in Vancouver, 2010. Bilodeau described the historic run as “perfect” – a great way to also describe the end to his stunning Olympic career.

Canadian coach comes to the rescue of Russian skier

NBC screengrabs via Deadspin

When a Russian cross-country skier fell and broke his ski during a race, Canadian coach Justin Wadsworth ran onto the course to help. The country rallied around the perfectly Canadian moment and lauded Wadsworth for showing what the Olympic spirit is all about.

Dufour-Lapointe sisters both get to podium

The Dufour-Lapointe sisters became Canada’s new family of skiing all-stars when Justine won gold and Chloé won silver in moguls. The eldest sister Maxime also competed in the same event and placed 12th. On the podium, the sisters laughed, they cried – and Canadians did the same along with them.

Photo credit: John Lehmann/The Globe and Mail

Gilmore Junio gives up his speedskating spot

Photo tweeted by @wick_22

Denny Morrison was not scheduled to compete in the 1,000 m long-track event after falling in the Canadian qualifier. But teammate Gilmore Junio gave his spot to Morrison, who had a better shot at winning. The move paid off, with Morrison winning silver and Canadians hailing Junio as an Olympic hero.

Canada’s team, led by Jennifer Jones, not only pulled off the gold-medal victory few had predicted, but set an Olympic record by going through all 11 matches of the Sochi Games undefeated. Proving that Jones, as her teammate said, is “one of the greatest skips of all time.” (The men’s team secured Canada’s reputation as a curling force to be reckoned with, when they took home the gold medal a day later.)

Men’s hockey team dominates gold-medal game

In its 3-0 victory against Sweden, Canada went on an undefeated 6-0 run to take the gold, becoming the first team since the Soviet Union in 1984 to do so. Anticipation ahead of the game was at an all-time high, with some cities passing special rules to allow bars to open and serve during the 7 a.m. ET game.